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Engaging Matters

Doug Borwick on vibrant arts and communities

Let (Make) the Artists Do It (?)

October 7, 2014 by Doug Borwick

CorpsDeBalletThere is an unfortunate tendency in discussions of community engagement for an organization’s first response to be that all (or most) of the work should be in the hands of its artists. I hear this presented as an assumption at many conferences, especially discipline-specific ones. This can stymie engagement efforts for two significant reasons. First, to be credible, engagement must reflect the will of the organization and be visible in all its work. “Outsourcing” engagement to artists is a bit like a nonprofit board hiring a development director and deciding that therefore they do not need to participate in fundraising.

Second, with many wonderful exceptions, artists have not been trained in and are sometimes uncomfortable with the work of engagement. They may not have the tools necessary for relationship building with groups or individuals not part of the art world, and, importantly, that was not the work for which they were originally hired. This has been one source of significant labor disputes in the arts industry over the last decade. Certainly artists can be some of the best ambassadors for their art, but they will need time, training, and the opportunity to come to see such work as part of their job–without a gun to their head. Like all other staff they will become invaluable resources for engagement, but they are likely not the place to begin.

Fortunately, much can be done to engage with new communities that does not involve direct participation by artists in the process. Programming of works meaningful to the community; contextualizing them in ways that highlight their relevance; and presentation of them in venues with which the community is comfortable are ways to begin–establishing credibility and building relationships as everyone inside the organization develops skills working outside of traditional boundaries.

The work of engagement is not work that belongs entirely in the purview of any single subset of an arts organization. All must be involved, eventually. There are good ways to begin without immediately throwing everybody into the deep end of the pool.

Engage!

Doug

Photo:AttributionNoncommercialShare Alike Some rights reserved by Jack Devant ballet photography

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Filed Under: Principles, The Practice of Engagement Tagged With: arts, community engagement, programming, relationships

About Doug Borwick

Doug Borwick is a past President of the Board of the Association of Arts Administration Educators and was for nearly 30 years Director of the Arts Management and Not-for-Profit Management Programs at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC. He is CEO of Outfitters4, Inc., providing management services to nonprofit organizations and ArtsEngaged providing training and consultation to artists and arts organization to help them more effectively engage with their communities. [Read More …]

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About Engaging Matters

The arts began as collective activity around the campfire, expressions of community. In a very real sense, the community owned that expression. Over time, with increasing specialization of labor, the arts– especially Western “high arts”– became … [Read More...]

Books

Community Engagement: Why and How

Building Communities, Not Audiences: The Future of the Arts in the United States Engage Now! A Guide to Making the Arts Indispensable[Purchase info below] I have to be honest, I haven’t finished it yet because I’m constantly having to digest the ‘YES’ and ‘AMEN’ moments I get from each … [Read More...]

Gard Foundation Calls for Stories

The Robert E. Gard Foundation is dedicated to fostering healthy communities through arts-based development, it is currently seeking stories from communities in which the arts have improved the lives of citizens in remarkable ways. These stories can either be full descriptions (400-900 words) with photos, video, and web links or mini stories (ca. 200 words) […]

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Recent Comments

  • Doug Borwick on Donor Myopia: “Re:"disingenuosity," absolutely true if that's all they're doing. But the existential crisis is, actually, forcing many to re-examine their work.…” Oct 2, 15:34
  • Trevor O'Donnell on Donor Myopia: “You've encapsulated the issue nicely here, Doug. The arts serve and reflect their founders and sustainers. In the case of…” Oct 2, 14:45
  • Doug Borwick on Benefits (Yet Again): “As always, thanks for your extremely thoughtful comments. FWIW, my articulation of core benefits is an attempt to describe what…” Aug 9, 10:47
  • CARTER GILLIES on Benefits (Yet Again): “You and I have talked this through and I can see that most of my objections are what have been…” Aug 7, 09:02
  • Trevor O'Donnell on The Long Road: “Ouch indeed. It's the selfishness. It's the lack of humility. It's the lack of respect. But a lot of arts…” Jul 24, 13:46

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